


tell me how your love runs true

by hotdamnitszuko



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: M/M, and this part was a brief little part of that overall story and i wanted to share, but basically they're all in a band together, hi so we had the wonderful idea to make a band au, they’re all over 18 (sokka is 22 zuko is 23) to help visualize this better!, this was another commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25829656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotdamnitszuko/pseuds/hotdamnitszuko
Summary: A few long months of their road trip across America have gone by, playing different clubs and bars and small venues, when Sokka finally gets the nerve to take Zuko out. It's not his fault that it hits him at 5 in the morning.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 149





	tell me how your love runs true

**Author's Note:**

> hii
> 
> this was another commission for my best, phylicia. she had this amazing idea for a band au where the gaang (and zuko) have a punk pop/indie rock band together (and azula, mai, and tylee have their own indie girl band too). we made an entire google document filled with so much information and lore and backstories and small moments that happen and somehow this fic grew from that. it's super short and not great but i love these versions of the characters we created together so this fic holds a special place in my heart now. i'm definitely hoping to write more for this band au soon.
> 
> ALSO yes i am aware theres a random undertale tag on mobile sometimes idk how it got there but i can't get it to go away (it doesn't show up on desktop) so im very sorry it has nothing to do with this fic it's annoying the shit out of me too im so sorry.
> 
> i hope you enjoy! and reminder that my commissions are open! you can find the information for that on my tumblr (@legallyplatinumblonde).

Sokka could see his face from his own spot, each of them facing out towards the small walkway between the two big beds. His features were visible in the glow of the moonlight from where the blackout curtains had shifted open sometime during the night. Zuko looked so much softer when he was sleeping. His shoulders held less stiff, the crease between his eyes eased up, even his scar seemed less angry. Zuko carried far too much grief and tension for someone of such a young age, but it’s not like that statement couldn’t be applied directly back to Sokka himself. Maybe he just wore less of it on his face, and more of it in his chest.

Sokka almost hated to wake him up, especially this early. The bands show the night before had been a serious workout, lots of swear was shed on the floor of the smoky club. The six of them just about collapsed onto any soft(ish) flat surface the second they stepped through the doorway of whatever double-bed motel room they had gotten in Flagstaff. 

-

_ (Sokka, the complainer that he is, had done just that the entire drive there. He had for some reason unknown to the rest of the band, decided somewhere along the way that he had a vendetta against Arizona, and would spout off all the ways he found it boring and couldn’t wait to move on to the next state as quickly as possible.) _

_ - _

Eventually, Sokka pulled himself from his warm blankets, tip-toeing over to his bag to dig out two jackets and finding where the two boys had kicked their shoes off in the rush to bed. He sits back down on the bed he was sharing with Toph, dressing himself before leaning over the space to gently shake Zuko’s shoulder. He knew from past experience that he could jump on the bed and not wake up the sleeping Suki beside him.

Zuko’s golden brown eyes were suddenly piercing into Sokka’s own, full of sleep and confusion and a little bit of worry. That tugged at Sokka’s heart a little in a way that he couldn’t yet explain, not with Zuko’s face so close to his. 

“Come with me,” Sokka hears his own voice whisper, shoving one of his own navy blue crew necks into Zuko’s arms as he begins to sit up. He made his way over to the door, car keys in hand before he heard the soft pattering of Zuko following him.

They were quiet all the way to the one of the vans parked outside, Sokka seeming to relax immediately as the cold January air hit his face. Zuko on the other hand, made quick work of covering his hands with the too-long sleeves of the borrowed sweatshirt.

The ride wasn’t long, but the air was still quiet. It was a comfortable silence, one that would have terrified both of the boys just six months before when they had first met. It was a silence that felt necessary. Time for Zuko to wonder what was happening and watch out the window for any clues as to where they are going; time for Sokka to get himself out of his own head and to stop worrying himself sick. Sokka put his focus on driving more carefully when he noticed Zuko’s head dip to press into the cool-fogged window and start to doze off a little. 

His eyes only open again when his face is painted in the blue and red half broken flashing lights of a “24 hours” sign outside of some diner. It looked straight out of some kind of cheesy teen movie that would have a David Bowie song on the soundtrack. Sokka almost wanted to laugh at himself at that moment, finding this entire plan absolutely ridiculous. 

He could see through the big windows to see a handful of older people sitting under fluorescent lights. There were a couple of people in name tags taking a smoke break out from, clearly the morning crew waiting to clock in and send the night crew home from their graveyard shifts to get some rest before having to do it all again. It was endearing in its own way, seeming to feel like time didn’t really matter much to anyone inside this one building.

Sokka finally began to speak once he felt Zuko’s gaze on him, sucking in a little bit of a breath. He had the car on still, not yet ready to freeze out the beautifully tired boy next to him by cutting the heater off. His hand stayed on the steering wheel and his thumb worried at part of the stitching to ground himself in that moment.

“I’ve got a pocket full of quarters for the jukebox,” Sokka started, other hand brushing alone the pocket of his hoodie, feeling for the weight of the coins. “And I’d like to get some pancakes and coffee with you too. But… but I want this to be a date, that is if you’re interested. If you’re not, we can buy up some coffee for the rest of the gang, leave the quarters as a tip for those waitresses, and never speak of this again.”

There’s a brief pause and Sokka watches as Zuko opens his mouth to speak. Just before he takes a breath to say something, Sokka cuts in again. “But I have a feeling you’re down.”

Something in his voice is steady and confident, but the small tug of a smile on his lips and the way he can feel his cheeks and nose getting flushed cuts right through the tension hanging around them in their old cramped van. What Zuko says next isn’t exactly what Sokka had imagined him to say, much less tears and confessions of love he supposes. 

“Yeah, okay.. I get first dibs on song choice.” His voice is still full of sleep, but his eyes are full to the brim with excitement. Zuko climbs out of the van without waiting for a response, pushing out into the frigid morning wait. He feels awake down to his bones, and he isn’t sure what the cause is exactly. He’s not going to question it. There is something like pride in Sokka’s gaze as he watches Zuko, knowing just how much the boy hates the cold (and mornings), yet can’t wait to push through it just for him.

It’s unsurprisingly easy for the two boys to fall back into comfortably sharing the same space, sliding into the same side of a booth. Sokka takes to ordering for them both as Zuko busies himself with flipping through the tiny table top jukebox and questioning why Sokka has so many quarters. 

-

_ (“Seriously, when was the last time you even used cash? What are you, my uncle?” Zuko teases, the corner of his lip quirking up in a way that Sokka can’t ever look away from. Small and reserved, like he only wanted to share his happiness with those closest to him. _

_ “Dude, I have to keep coins on me. What if we need to go through a toll road? Or see a homeless guy, huh?” _

_ Zuko seems to contemplate this before pushing a coin into the small machine. Seconds later their little area is filled with The Clash. The couple two booths down trying to enjoy their morning papers weren’t exactly pleased. He messed with his earrings while they talked, a habit Sokka had noticed fairly early on, and a habit he enjoyed watching as it calmed Sokka to see as much as it did Zuko to do. _

_ “You always think about stuff like that. Stuff no one else does, and you’re always so passionate about the little things like keeping change on your person at all times... I like that about you, the way your mind works, Sokka.” _

_ It’s a simple statement, the sentiment similar to something he’s sure Zuko has said to him before. This time it leaves a warmth throughout his chest that he can’t even blame on the coffee.) _

-

In hindsight, Sokka shouldn’t have been so shocked at how easy it was to fall in love with Zuko. Looking at him now, old fashioned coffee mug tucked between his hands to warm them, telling Sokka this elaborate story he made up about some of the customers in hushed tones as he was terrified of someone actually hearing him, swimming in Sokka’s sweater and bedhead but not caring about the way he looked around him. Sokka wanted nothing more than to make Zuko feel that comfortable, that listened to and understood, for as far out into the future as his 22 year old brain could conjure up. 

When they eventually made their way back to the motel, Sokka stopped him outside and leaned in to press his lips to the rough but healed scarred skin of Zuko’s left cheek. No words were spoken out right, but they both knew when he pulled away. Knew that they had someone to care for, and to confide in. Someone to go to with any thought that came to their mind (even if it was a bassline idea at 2 am, or barging into the bathroom to yell over the shower about how Appa had chewed on their guitar case). They had someone that wouldn’t hold them like they were going to break because of what they’ve lost and the pain they’ve been through, but would instead see the bravery in them.

Both of the boys climbed back into their respective beds, grinning at each other in the now golden light streaming in. Sokka would fall back asleep for a couple of more hours, but not before a swift (affectionate) punch to the arm and a muffled “ _ finally _ ” from the other body in the bed.

Maybe Sokka was thinking too much into this, maybe he was reading too deep into a breakfast date with a pretty guy he’s spent the last seven months traveling and playing shows with. But really, Sokka didn’t care about if he was overreacting to a simple date. All he cared about was the image of Zuko’s blushed cheeks in the car and the warm breath on his face as he kissed his cheek in the morning dew and the way he had seen Zuko tug the sweatshirt tighter as opposed to the blankets to keep warm. Sokka finally falls asleep when the birds start to chirp, deciding that maybe Flagstaff would have a special place in his heart from now on.

  
  



End file.
